Mom Sees 2 Boys Laughing At Disabled Girl - Then She Sees What Their Mom Is Doing

By: Alexander Burns | September 13, 2017

When Bethan Germon, a 30-year-old mother who lives in Wales, visited her local Tesco retail and grocery store with her eldest daughter, Caitlin, and youngest daughter, Lydia, she had no idea what was about to happen. Now, the outraged mother has spoken out about an incident in the store that involved a group of young boys.

When Ms. Germon moved past a throng of teenagers in Tesco, the unnamed boys began gesturing towards Lydia and laughing. Ms. Germon was stunned and angered by the mocking comments and laughter directed at her young daughter – a mentally disabled girl who was born with incurable Dandy Walker syndrome.

Ms. Germon was even more horrified when she looked back to see that one of the boy’s mothers was also laughing alongside the group of adolescents. “They [the children] were pointing and giggling uncontrollably, usually when this happens, they cling onto their mum or dads as they are not sure how to deal with a childlike Lydia, generally the behavior of the parent is to get angry and tell them off,” Ms. Germon angrily recalled in an interview with Wales Online. “The mum asked them quite loudly what they were laughing at, when they pointed over at Lydia she laughed with them.”

Ms. Germon was speechless when she finally realized what the repulsive crowd were laughing at, telling Wales Online that she was “shocked” by the encounter in her local Tesco and was especially shaken by the mother’s flippant response to her son’s abuse. However, despite her well-deserved anger, Ms. Germon refrained from publicly attacking the group because: “I didn't want to upset Lydia or my eldest daughter Caitlin.”

Lydia – who suffers from Dandy Walker syndrome, cerebral palsy, meningitis and sepsis – has led a difficult life since her birth. When Lydia was born, doctors discovered that fluid was rapidly building up in her brain – an early sign of Dandy Walker syndrome. However, despite the difficulties and the complications of Lydia’s early years, Ms. Germon is adamant that she would still take in Lydia.

Unfortunately, many people still think that they have the right to instruct parents of children with disabilities on the proper way to parent a child. During her interview with Wales Online, Ms. Germon also opened up about the incessant stream of online abuse from complete strangers. “Sometimes we respond sometimes we don’t,” she wearily said.

The 30-year-old mother also told interviewers about a particularly harsh encounter with a woman who told her to “let her child die” when she mentioned that she wouldn’t have an abortion. By speaking up about the most recent incident, Ms. Germon hopes to spread awareness about the issue, saying: “Whenever we are in a supermarket people think it’s okay to make rude comments, one woman looked into her pram before and said that Lydia was disgusting…I want all mums to feel proud of their babies and feel confident to go shopping with them, without fear.”